Morty looked around the therapist's office. There were plants hanging from the ceiling and a little trickling fountain that sounded like someone taking a leak. The therapist, a balding man in his forties, crossed his legs and set his clipboard on his lap.

"So Morty, what brings you in today?"

Morty felt a pit grow in his stomach. He rubbed his sweating palms on his jeans. "I-I heard that the college offered free therapy for students."

"Yes we do. And here you are." The therapist smiled, but Morty did not. After a pause, the therapist tried to get him talking. "How are you doing in your classes?"

"I'm good, I-I'm fine. The classes are fine. I like Psych. It's fine."

The therapist tilted his head. "Are you making friends?"

"Sure, I guess I know a few people…"

The therapist wrote something down on the clipboard. "What about outside of school?"

Morty hesitated. He looked at the floor, at the tightly woven, industrial carpeting. It was really clean. Like, nobody-is-allowed-to-eat-in-here-EVER clean. "It's okay."

"And?"

"And… agh this is such bullshit!" He looked at the therapist. "Look, I'm here because of something that happened before I left… before I went away to school. I like somebody, right? I'm kind of mad obsessed and I'm reeeeally not supposed to be. Well it's been going on for years aaand I-I knew I wasn't going to see them for a while when I went away to college. So on the last day I just kind of blurted it out."

"You told this person you had feelings for them?"

Morty nodded gravely.

"And what happened?"

"Well… he was surprised. Like, we were flying the ship… I mean we were driving the car and he kind of swerved right into something. And then he stared at me like he thought I might have been taken over by some kind of alien entity, and I told him I was serious and he told me… um..."

"What did he tell you?"

Morty slumped over a little. "He told me I should get professional help. But he doesn't really believe in therapy, he was just being an asshole."

"I'm so sorry," the therapist said gently.

Morty remembered sitting beside Rick in the ship, which was nestled into the rubble of a building he had crashed into. And the staring. Rick hadn't exactly looked at Morty like he was disgusting, but more like Morty was something Rick might need to reprogram. Morty wasn't sure of the last time he had seen Rick surprised about anything.

"I've just… I-I've felt this way for a while now. I didn't- I couldn't say anything because I was afraid you might…" His eyes started to water, and he blinked it back. "I know you have that ticket for a replacement Morty. I thought if I told you, you might swap me out. For a Morty who isn't fucked up like I am. I don't want to be swapped out, but I just couldn't keep it in anymore. It's-"

Rick smacked Morty to get him to come to his senses, the way someone smacks a person to wake them up. "Quit sniveling, Morty. What are you, seventeen?"

"Eighteen."

Rick was twisted in his seat, looking at Morty straight on. His expression said, 'What the fuck do I do with this, Morty?' And then he said, "What the fuck do I do with this, Morty? What do you expect me to say?"

Morty shrugged. "I don't know… that you'll fix me? That you forgive me?"

"You clearly need some professional hel-URP-help. This is some seriously fucked up shit, Morty."

"I know…"

Ricked backed the ship out of the rubble of the building and lifted it once more into the atmosphere. "You know what, Morty? I-I think I may have been wrong about you going away to school. Maybe it'll-URP be good for you. Maybe spending some time fucking people your own age will get your head out of your ass about the two of us. Now that I think of it, I don't give you much time to do your own thing- to get your rocks off like the other kids do."

"Morty?" The therapist said, snapping him back to reality.

"What? Sorry." He couldn't forget the lingering reminder that Rick had never said whether or not he'd replace him.

Xxx

Morty typed away on his laptop, trying to get a headstart on the Psych 101 essay that was due at the end of the week. The dorm room was dimly lit by the lamp on his desk, and all was quiet save for the sound of his keyboard and the creaking of his roommate's bed. Morty's typing halted as he heard his roommate chuckle and the girlfriend moan.

"Like that, baby?"

Morty continued typing up his mental health essay, but it was getting harder to focus when things were perking up in his pajama pants. His roommate had been a smoker since he was twelve, and the gravelly voice defied his young age and appearance. He listened to his roommate dirty talking and thought about how he could probably write a novel on his own mental health, or lack thereof.

He shifted in his desk chair, trying to get more comfortable. He was going to have to get off whenever this voyeuristic freak show was over, if he ever managed to get a moment to himself in this place. God, if only he could get his roommate to say something science-y. It'd be so fucking good to get off thinking about that.

A message popped on his screen, saying, 'Want to go on an adventure?'

The 'A' word had Morty alight, but he was immediately let down when he saw that the message was from a friend from an RPG. It was stupid to get excited anyway, since his grandfather never sent him messages online. Rick was more of an, unexpectedly-swing-the-door-open-without-invitation-and-let's-get-outta-here kind of guy. He typed a reply that he'd have to pass this time, and continued to work. Christ, how had he let his life get so mundane? He knew how.

"Yeah baby," his roommate growled. "Does that feel good? You want it? Tell me you want it…"

Morty tensed. He palmed his erection, unable to block out the voice that wasn't quite right but oh so close.

And then, in an unexpectedly-swing-the-door-open-without-invitation-and-let's-get-outta-here kind of way, a green light exploded out of nowhere. Morty's roommate and his girlfriend screamed and shouted obscenities, while Morty just just turned to look.

Rick stepped out of the portal, interdimensional device in hand. He straightened his lab coat and used his sleeve to wipe the spittle off his mouth. He looked at Morty like it was just another day in the verse. Morty stood slowly.

"We've gotta go, Morty. I only have two more hours to make this delivery and I'm gonna need an extra set of hands."

Morty did his best to pull his long T-shirt over the front of his pants, and hoped that the loose fabric was concealing him. Rick didn't seem to notice as he came over. And fuck, he was glorious. Nothing was different, the same apathetic resting face and hair stuck up every which way. Same smell of alcohol on his breath.

"Get your shoes on, Morty."

"My shoes… My S-SHOES? My fucking shoes, are you kidding me?!" Morty howled. "It's been almost… almost two months since I've heard from you, and you just expect me to up and follow you off to who knows where?"

Rick checked his watch. "I've got thirty three more min-URP-minutes to pick up the merch. Are you coming or not?"

"Morty, who the fuck is this?" Morty's roommate shouted from where he and his girlfriend cowered on the bed. "Did he just jump out of a portal?"

"He's my grandfather and a-a fucking asshole. ...and yeah-Ugh!" Rick grabbed Morty's wrist, dragging him toward the ship.

Morty was just about Rick's height now, and he probably could have put up a fight if he wanted. But he just let Rick pull him along. The man was impossible to resist, and that was something that would never change.

Xxx

Morty sat in the passenger seat of the ship, which hadn't changed much over the years. If anything, it had a few more patches holding it together than it had before. He crossed his arms, glaring at his own reflection in the window.

"I've got a guy in C-009 who's willing to pay a fortune for me to deliver a package from C-112. Plus he's throwing in something I've been looking for forever. We're-URP-we're gonna be flying to C-112 to pick it up. We just have to keep under the radar in 112. T-There are some officials, Morty, and they don't want to do the trade. It's a risk we're gonna have to take."

Morty uncrossed his arms. "Jeez, Rick, you don't think we should… I-I don't know, talk? You really have nothing to say to me?"

"Actually that reminds me, Morty. I was thinking we should never bring that up again."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah I am, Morty. You're going through a-a-a-a-a-a phase of some sort. BRRRP-I think you'll get over it eventually."

"You didn't look into it? You didn't do some experiment on me from afar or-or see if I'm infected with something?"

"Yeah I checked that, Morty, you're not infected. Unfortunately."

"What about the other dimensions? Did you see if… if there are any other Morty's like me?"

"H-H-H-Honestly Morty, it wasn't worth the trouble and I didn't want to know. You-you-you're just gonna have to get over this on your own."

Morty looked out the window. They were flying through a deep field of asteroids surrounding the desired planet. After the Asteroids came an incredibly turbulent atmosphere, and the ship jerked and bumped all the way through its steady descension.

"This is taking forever."

"Yeah well the planet's atmosphere is about six times as deep as Earth's. I'd put your feet up if I were you."

But it was impossible, as the ship shook and bounced. Morty grabbed onto the sides of his seat to keep himself from being thrown forward. "You know I would have liked to put on some real clothes before we left. And some shoes." His toes curled up to avoid the grime on the floor.

"No time, Morty. We're-BRRRRRURP on a schedule."

Morty gripped his seat tighter, using one hand to press against the window to keep him from hitting his head. Would the ship even hold up with this shaking? It sounded like it was coming apart. Maybe it always sounded that way. Morty wasn't sure.

His focus was pulled to the shore of a dark beach, where a massive crowd was running toward them from inland. In front of them drove a single alien-looking vehicle.

"Uh, Rick, maybe you should see this."

"Yeah I see it, Morty. That's our liaison."

The ship landed on the shore, and Morty jumped out, bare feet sinking into the chrome sand. The dunes rose up, blocking the ship from distant gunfire.

"Come on Morty, we've got to meet them before their military does. Run for it! Oh shit, wait. Take this shrink ray. It's the only way we're going to fit the package into the ship."

Morty took the shrink ray and ran. He hurled himself over the dunes, making a beeline for the vehicle in the distance. He could hear the gunfire, and hopped a few times as blasts hit the ground around his feet. The vehicle came closer, and slid to a stop in front of him. A pair of triclopses hurried out and opened the back, which held a box large enough to hold a bathtub. Morty aimed the ray gun and fired, shrinking the crate to the size of a tissue box.

One of the two aliens started shouting garbled alien-speak to him, but he got the hint from the desperate waving of their hands. He turned tail and ran, just as the military landed a blow that sent the vehicle exploding into the air. Another explosion blew up against the ground to his left, and he stumbled as he tried to avoid it. Why the hell did he let Rick get him into this shit? Maybe he wanted Rick to think he was more interesting than he actually was. Or maybe he just liked it.

Ahead of him, Rick's flying saucer ship rose up from behind the dunes. It headed toward him and Morty ran faster. He was so close. But then something sharp punctured his bare foot, and he gasped from the pain as he stumbled to the ground. The box tumbled from his grip, and the ray gun broke apart under Morty's chest. The crate trembled and blew up into its original size, just as the saucer landed.

"Shit, Morty, w-w-w-what did you do to my shrink ray?"

"I… I…"

"N-Nevermind, no time."

Morty glanced behind them toward the mainland, where the mob of military soldiers was getting closer by the second. He scrambled to his feet and joined Rick where he was trying to shove the massive box through the passenger door. Together they managed to slide it in, the back half wedged behind the driver's seat. Rick shoved the door shut and ran to the other side. He jumped in just as a shower of blasts began to crash against the ship. Morty ducked his head as he hurried after him, leaping on top of Rick in the driver's seat.

Rick took off, ascending quickly and leaving the soldiers on the beach.

"Jeez Rick, that was seriously close!"

"Yeah well I told you to get your sh-URP-shoes on."

The ship lurched forward in the atmosphere's turbulence, sending Morty into the windshield. He smacked his head on the glass before Rick pulled him back again.

"Hold onto something, Morty."

Morty was sprawled out on Rick's lap at this point, hand holding the sore spot on his forehead where he'd hit the glass. Even through the pain in his head and his foot, he didn't fail to notice their situation. There was no space to spare, and Morty had no choice but to sit pressed up against Rick's chest. The older man's arms reached forward on either side of him to steer. He leaned to the side to help Rick get a visual, but there was nothing but clouds all around them. The ship bounced and shook mercilessly, and Morty did all he could to find something to hold onto. He grabbed the side of the door, and with an especially vicious jolt of the ship, he had to grab onto Rick's thigh to keep still.

That's when Morty felt it. He was sitting in Rick's lap, unsteadily bouncing around, and there was definitely something beginning to press against his ass. Was that… no. No, yeah, it was. Rick was getting hard and Morty could feel it through his pajamas. Heat spread across his face. He couldn't move away. He tried to scoot forward a little, to give Rick room, but the jostling of the ship just threw Morty back against him again. Rick grunted.

"Sit still for fuck's sake," Rick said through gritted teeth. His arms were busy as he held tight to the trembling wheel.

"I'm trying," Morty bit out, but his mind was sort of not quite with it as he tried to wrap his head around this. The ship jerked forward and Morty was again thrown back against Rick. Jesus, Rick was absolutely rigid down there. Morty grabbed Rick's knees in a desperate attempt to stay still, and they sat there frozen as the ship made it into space. The starry blackness provided endless relief in how still it was. The shaking was gone, and neither of them moved.

The silence was broken by a boozy-smelling burp from behind Morty. Morty glanced back at Rick, who glared, his face white. "Don't get any funny ideas. You try keeping it down under that kind of duress. Let's just forget this shit like we're going to forget the rest of it."

"W-Whatever Rick," Morty mumbled. He was still sitting on Rick's hard dick, being told not to think about it. He didn't think there were enough hours in the day to masturbate to the memory of this. And fuck if therapy was going to help him now. He was so done.

Eventually they reached their destination, a planet of deserts and the dusty remains of crops and forests burned to the ground. Rick's contact met them at the top of a hill overlooking a deep valley. The alien helped them drag the crate out of the ship, and they watched as he used a sort-of-crowbar to open it.

In front of them sat what Morty imagined was some kind of massive Jell-o jiggler. It shimmered blue and purple, and swayed when Rick nudged it with his foot. The contact paid Rick and slipped him a package. He and Rick stepped back as the alien took out a knife and cut open the side of the mass of Jell-o. It trembled and seemed to groan before bursting out water like a broken fire hydrant.

It was sort of beautiful, seeing the endless, clear waterfall erupting out of the Jell-o. It began forming a stream and then a river, like a flash flood down the mountain. Looking around a second time, Morty realized that the whole valley was probably once a lake. And somehow, this lump was going to make it vital again.

"See Morty? Your grandpa does something good once in awhile. They'll be able to water their crops and avoid mass starvation for years."

Morty glanced at the alien contact. "What was in that package?"

The alien smiled innocently. "It is… eh, how do you say… highly condensed cocaine?"

Morty didn't react. He turned and watched the waterfall, trying to will his blood pressure to go down. Rick began to whistle and Morty went back to the ship.

TBC